Novel Imidazolium Ionic Liquids Containing Quaternary Ammonium Iodide or Secondary Amine for Dye-sensitized Solar Cell

A new type of ionic liquid based on N-(3-aminepropyl)imidazolium iodide, called IIQAI, which consists of imidazolium and quaternary ammonium salt, and APII-(hydroxyethyl, propyl, hexyl) were synthesized and used as ionic liquid in dye-sensitized solar cells. APII-hexyl is solid, whereas IIQAI, APII-(hydroxyethyl, propyl) are viscous liquids. The synthesized ionic liquid showed relative thermal stability compared to the commercial ionic liquid of DMII. Among them, IIQAI was more stable than the other ionic liquid because of the two salt groups. APII-hydroxyethyl, which contains two hydroxyl groups, showed low viscosity with good flow. New types of ionic liquids were examined by 1 H-NMR spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). IIQAI enabled a solar energy conversion efficiency of 6.3%, which is slightly higher than that of the referenced (DMII, 6.2%).